As environmental conditions are becoming increasingly of concern to the general population, an increasing amount of attention is being paid to the environmental impact of various activities. Accordingly, more attention is being focused on the environmental impact of the manufacture, purchase, and disposal of goods and services. For example, emissions are introduced into the atmosphere through the delivery of items from a warehouse or other location. Further, there typically are packaging materials used for the delivery that may not be biodegradable, and thus introduce an amount of landfill volume into the environment. The goods or services themselves also have an environmental impact, as there generally is an amount of material used for an item that might not be biodegradable, there often is electricity required to produce an item that introduces additional emissions into the environment, etc.
Some companies have moved to lessen the environmental impact by using recyclable materials for packaging and/or shipping. Many delivery companies have also attempted to optimize the routes and vehicles used for shipping in order to reduce the amount of fuel needed for delivery. Other companies have placed warehouses in distributed locations in order to reduce the overall length of an average delivery route.
While these and other options might be provided by various companies, there often is little control given to the customer as to which options the customer would prefer. The user many times is not even presented with such information in order to make an informed decision relating to the environmental impact of a purchase or transaction.